Electrodeposition has enjoyed wide use by semiconductor process engineers for the formation of metallic interconnect structures through which elements of an integrated circuit architecture are connected to each other and to external terminal pads. As the geometries of these architectures continue to decrease, however, (e.g. for line widths in the submicron range) conventional electrodeposition methodologies have been found to be inadequate to prevent the encroachment of deposited metal beneath the edges of the photoresist through which the interconnect metallization is patterned. More particularly, during electrodeposition, the deposited metal, in addition to growing vertically, also tries to grow horizontally; the metallization mask (photoresist) serves to inhibit side or horizontal growth but to permit vertical growth (deposition) in the mask apertures. As line widths become narrower, however, the lateral growth action of the metal against the sides of the photoresist may actually lead to a lifting-off of the photoresist from the underlying base layer, resulting in an underplating of resist-covered areas and consequential electrical shorts.